Moistening mechanism for printing-presses.



A. J. FORD.

HOISTENING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PBESSES.

Arrmoxnon rinnn 1mm, 100a.

Patented Mar.30, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

a ii I Hmwmw Wiin eases.

A. J. FORD. MOISTENING MEOHANISH FOB PRINTING PBBSSES.

APPLIOATIOI FILED KAY 26, I908.

Patented Mar. 30, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' Inveizior:

A. J. FORD. MOISTEN ING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES. APPLIOATIORFILED my 25, 1908.

Patented Mar. 30, 1909.

3 SHEETS-BHEET 3.

Inventor: Wznesaesx ALBERT J. FORD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TOFUCHS AND LANG lWiNUFAOTURING COMPANY,A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MOISTENING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

.York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in MoisteningMechanism for Printing-Presses, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings,forming part thereof.

My invention relates to mechanism for applying moisture to the printingelements of rinting presses.

ne object of the invention is to produce a moistening mechanism in.which the moistening rolls are mounted in a novel manner to facilitateadjusting them with respect to each other and to the printing elementwith which they cooperate, and to provide 1mproved' means for throwingthem into and out of engagement with the prmting element, and moreparticularly to permit the moistening rolls to be run when out ofcontact with the rinting element, to effect a unlilform distri ution ofmoistpre upon the ro s.

Another object of the invention is to provide a moistening mechanismwith im roved means for throwing it into and out o operation and foradjusting it with respect to the quantity of moisture applied by it tothe printing element.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

I will now describe the embodiment of the invention illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and will thereafter point out my invention inclaims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a moistening mechanismembodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is an end view of the moisteningmechanism. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional View of the means for supportinthe moistening rolls, and Fig. 4 is a detai view of one of the bracketsupon which the moistenin rolls are carried.

. The invention is ilustrated as applied to a'rotary printing press, theplate cylinder 1 and a part of the frame of the press being shown inFigs. 1 and 2. The cylinder 1 con- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 26, 1908. Serial No. 434,741.

Patented March 30, 1909.

stitutes an element of the printing couple, and rotates on a shaft 2journaled in the frame.

The moistening rolls comprise two rolls 3 which directly engage theplate cylinder 1, and a third roll 4 which engages and feeds the rolls3. The roll 4 is supplied with moisture by a ductor roll 5 which engagesit intermittently for periods varying in length according to the amountof moisture to be applied to the plate cylinder. lVhen out of engagementwith the roll 4, the ductor roll 5 engages and is moistened by afountain roll 6, which is journaled over a fountain 7. The fountain isfilled with water, and the bottom of thefountain roll 6 is submergedtherein.

The moistening rolls are so mounted that they may be thrown out ofcontact, when necessary, with the plate cylinder. For this purpose theyare carried by two brackets 11 fixe to the ends of a rock-shaft 12 journaled in the frame of the machine.- A gear segment 13 fixed to theshaft engages a worm 14 on a rock-shaft 15. journaled in the frame andprovided with a handle 16. A partial rotation of this handle operates toswmg the brackets 11, with the moistening rolls, toward or from the latecylinder. The rolls 3 are not journale directly on the brackets 11, butare so mounted thereon as to be adjustable with respect both to thecylinder 1 and the roll 4. The shafts 19 on which the rolls 3 aremounted arc journaled in sleeves 20 seated in heads 17 integral withstems 21. The heads 17 are slotted at 18, and when the sleeves 20 arewithdrawn endwise from the heads and shaftsv 19, the shafts may bepassed laterally through the slots to remove the rolls from the machine.The sleeves are normally held in place by spring plungers 27 normallyheld, by springs 28, in engagement with suitable notches in the sleeves.The stems 21 are slidably mounted in sleeves 22, and the latter haveears 29 by which they are pivoted on studs 30 on the brackets 11. Aplate 31 connects the outer ends of the studs and retains the sleeves inplace thereon.

Therolls 3 are adjusted toward and from the cylinder 1 by moving thestems 21 longitudinally in the sleeves 22. For this pur- The shaft 15 ispose each sleeve has an adjusting screw 23 threaded into the stem andprovided with a collar 24 engaging a flan e 25 at the end of the sleeve.By turning t e s uared head 26 ot' the screw, the stem may e moved, andby these means the rolls may be adjusted to engage the cylinder withequal pressure and uniformly from end to end. In conjunction with theadjustment just described it is necessary to adjust the rolls 3 towardand from the roll 4, and'for this purpose the sleeves 22 are movedpivotally on studs 30 by means of adjusting screws 32, which arethreaded into heads 33 having threaded shanks screwed into holes 34 onthe brackets 11-.

Means are provided for rotating the roll 4 to assist the rotation of therolls 3 in unison with the cylinder 1. For this urpose, a pinion 35 isjournaled on one o the brackets 11 and engages gears on the cylindershaft 1 and the shaft of the roll 4. -The roll 4 is removably mounted,in the same manner as the rolls 3, by means of sleeves 37 seated inslotted bosses 36 on the brackets 11.

To impart a reci rocating motion'to the carrier roll 5, its shaft 38 isjournaled in the forked upper ends of two arms 39 loosely mounted on arock-shaft 40. The arms 39 have downward extensions engaged betweenadjusting screws 43 threaded in slotted arms 42 fixed to the shaft 40.The adjusting screws permit adjustment of the two ends of the roll indeendently, to cause the roll to engage the ro ls 4 and 6 evenly from endto end.

The rock-shaft 40 has fixed thereto an arm 45 upon which is mounted acamroll 46. A cam 47 is splined upon the shaft 48 of the feed roll 6.The shaft 48 is constantly rotated by means of bevel gears 49 and 50connecting it with a drive shaft 51 which is suitably connected with amoving portion of the printing press. The fountain roll 6 and the cam 47are thus rotated, and

the cam is formed to impart an oscillating movement to the arm 45 andthe rock-shaft 40, thereby moving the carrier roll 5 backward andforward and alternately into contact with the fountain roll 6 and theroll 4.

Provision is made for interrupting the movements of the fountain rolland the carrier roll to throw the moistening mechanism out ofoperation.. To this end the bevel gear 49 is splined to the shaft 48 andlongilength of such contact.

so as to cause the projections to ride upon and in order that this maybe varied as desired provision is made for varying the The cam 47 isformed to have a throw of varying length according to the relativelateral position of the cam and the cam roll,and as the cam is splinedon the shaft 48 this position may be changed by shifting the cam alongthe shaft. For this purpose the cam has a groove 58 engaged by an arm 59depending from a rod 60. The rod is mounted loosely in a threaded sleeve61 which screws into .the frame of the machine. The arm 59, and a washer62 and screw 63 at the outer end of the rod, constrain the rod and armto move longitudinally with the sleeve. By means of a milled head 64 onthe sleeve the latter may be turned so as to adjust these parts, and thecam, longitudinally, and thus regulate the action of the cam.

The handle 57 and the sleeve 61, by which the operation of themoistening mechanism is controlled, are located close together and in aconvenient position at the side of. the machine, and thus the mechanismmay be conveniently and quickly controlled while it is in operation.

It is obvious that various modifications may be made in the details ofconstruction and operation of the embodiment of my inventionhereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,within the principle and scope of the invention as defined in thefollowing claims.

I claim: 1. Moistening mechanism for prmting presses comprising areciprocating ductor roll, a cam-roll operatively connected with theductor roll, a variable-throw cam for actuating the cam roll and theductor roll,

and means for adjusting the cam longitudinally to vary the throw of thecam roll comprising a rod, an arm engaging the cam and fixed to the rod,a threaded sleeve in which the rod is mounted, and manuallytain rollalternately, a shaft on which the fountain roll is mounted, gears bywhich the shaft and the fountain roll are rotated oie,4s2 a of which oneis splined on the shaft so as to operation on the cam roll and theductor 10 be movable into and out of engagement with roll.

the other, a cam roll connected with the In testimony whereof I haveafiixed my ductor roll, a variable-throw cam s lined signature inpresence of two witnesses.

on the shaft and en a' in the cam r0 and i manually-operable m eari sfor moving the ALBERT FORD gear along the shaft to throw the mechan-Witnesses: ism into and out of operation and for mov- EDWARD KAUFMANN,

ing the cam along the shaft to vary its HENRY H. DAvIs.

